Sunday, April 26, 2015

Owl Be Watching You


So this week, two human encounters with wildlife ended in complete "What THE FUCK!" consternation and dismay.

Zoe lives at one of my buildings.  She's rude, so it doesn't exactly surprise me that she was the culprit in the swallow incident.  My team leader called me to say that Zoe took it upon herself to pry the window screen off the THIRD floor hallway window, take a broom and sweep away a swallow's nest -complete with eggs- crashing to the concrete below.

It seems that Zoe took a nasty dislike to the bird poop she encountered every day as she exited.  Hey, Zoester Monster, how about asking us to clean it, ignore it,walk around it, take a different exit, or clean it yourself and realize in a few short weeks the swallows would move on?

Second incident:  A mama owl had her babies on the balcony of one of the apartments. SO COOL!  Imagine having a private nature show and watching adorable owl babies grow and fledge on your very own private patio!  Who wouldn't love it?

Answer:  This particular resident.  Reason?  "I don't like the way they look at me."

Excuse me?  I get that it probably gets messy and the owl version of a Happy Meal means the toy animal is also the meal, but seriously?  They actually wanted us to get rid of them in any way possible.  So we had to remove an owl and her babies from their known territory or worse, kill them?


Every day is Earth Day.  In spite of our encroachment, creatures adapt and attempt to recreate a niche in whatever way possible as we tear through their original homes in the wild.  Isn't that what we humans do?  We get displaced physically, mentally,  or spiritually (sometimes all at the same time) and we attempt to recreate a niche.   We learn to fly again.  So we should have gratitude and honor wild creatures that wander back to the space we occupy.

And thank you to Bird Rescue of South Bay for the owl intervention.

 Zoe got a letter warning her that swallows in California are protected and those who cannot overlook bird poop and feel it necessary to harm them face a fine of $500- $3,000.  She also gets the stink eye from the animal lovers at the building.

And Zoe?  May the bluebird of happiness visit your balcony every day.  And deposit love bombs that find their way to you heart.  Or your eye.




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